Music at the Chapel

This scholarship is tenable for up to three years by a music student registered at the University of Toronto; preference is given to undergraduate students of organ who have a familiarity with the classical Anglican musical tradition. He or she is expected to participate in College life and to live in residence, with the scholarship contributing to the cost of room and board. Duties, as defined by the Director of Music in consultation with the Chaplain, include playing at the chapel services; accompanying the Chapel Choir in rehearsals, services and concerts; and working closely with Divinity students in musical matters.

In 1997, this endowment ($100,000 capital) was established by Mrs. Josephine Bevan of Wiarton, Ontario, as a memorial to her late husband, Major Guy T. M. Bevan RE (1880-1974), sometime Vice President (Engineering) of the Toronto firm Massey-Harris. Son of the Ven. and Mrs. H.H. Bevan of London UK, Major Bevan acquired a love of choral and organ music from the famous composer John Ireland, organist of his father’s church.

On the model of the Oxbridge colleges, a commitment to membership in the Trinity College Chapel Choir and passing an audition can provide access to professional voice lessons.

There are currently endowments for eight “named” scholarships.

• The Sir David Willcocks Choral Scholarship honours our honorary patron. It is held by the choir president.
• The Rev’d Oliver Newton Memorial scholarship fund, established in 1988, supports three choral scholars. One is given to train a female voice, one a male voice, and one is open category depending on choir needs that year.
• The John Sidgwick Memorial and the Robert Hunter Bell Choral Scholarships are for soprano or alto voice.
• The Eric Rollinson Memorial is open category.
• The Rev’d Warren Eling Memorial for a tenor or bass voice.

The Great Organ in the Trinity College Chapel was installed in 1954 by the firm of Casavant Frères of Sainte-Hyacinthe, Québec, after a consultation that included the eminent musicians Dr. Healey Willan and Sir Ernest MacMillan. As experts will recognize, this was before the Organ Reform Movement swept across North America.

As well as providing for the increasingly wide range of music needed in today’s various liturgies, the Great Organ is regularly used by a number of professionals and organ students on the University of Toronto campus for rehearsals and recitals. The Friends of the Chapel are committed to at raising funds needed for the refurbishment of the organ. A goal of $250,000 has been set as part of the Trinity College Strength to Strength Campaign to provide funds for the needed restoration.

It is anticipated that the instrument – a substantial old friend – will become “full voiced” as a result of this work, that is, it will become the flexible and colourful instrument it can easily be, with balanced manual and pedal divisions. The Great Organ’s “voice” is currently contained, not to say limited. It is expected to acquire the warm, transparent sound of the great 19th-century English organs which so inspired composers such as Felix Mendelssohn.

If you’d like to share advice on this project, or reflections from a similar experience, please contact either the chaplain or the choirmaster.